THE AMERICAN BEE JUUIINAL. 



33 



wintered in a special reiiository with a tem- 

 )>erature (if sinnnier lieat— too liigli. Bees 

 clustereil outside ol' tlie liives. 



A. C. Balch— If the eoiiditions are just 

 right you can seal them up air-tiKlit and 

 tliey will live. I would prefer a tight bar- 

 rel to a ventilated liive. 



T. F. Hinghani— I wish I had had 100 

 swanus "bottled up" last winter. *ro pre- 

 vent mold have the comb "chock full" of 

 lioney. 



A. C. Balch— TIelated Prof. Cook's experi- 

 ment of wintering bees in a snow hank. 

 One hive was sealed hermetically ; it came 

 out in good condition. 



James lledden— Can bees live withont a 

 change of air in a winter repository ? 



A. C. Balch— I think they can. In order 

 to insure success, avoid all currents of air, 

 especially in the hive. Have wintered for 

 years in a house cellar, with no ventilation 

 and no loss. 



C. I. Balch— In explanation, I would state 

 that the hives referred to are double walled, 

 and will give some ventilation, even when 

 closed so bees cannot get out. 



J. II. Everard— Will Mr. Balch give the 

 temperature of his cellar ? 



A. C. Balch— From 40 to 45 degrees— at- 

 mosphere perfectly dry. 



George Stray — Will Mr. Heddon state his 

 method of wiiitering ? 



James Ileddon — Mv winter repository is 

 12x10 ft., with a foot wall tilled with saw- 

 dust. Have shelves, so that each liive is 

 separate. Put them in early, before cold 

 weather. If the weather admits of a good 

 fly, I carry them out, and re-house them be- 

 fore it gets cold again. By this means, loss- 

 es in spring may be avoided. 



Mr. Miliier — The temperature of my cellar 

 was 32 degrees— the success was excellent. 



T. F. Buigham— Mr. Quinby and myself 

 (showing the similarity of ideas of great 

 men) tried artificial heat in the winter re- 

 pository. Have had a hot time the past 

 summer— just a little last winter. Withont 

 joking, I want a low temjierature— 32 deg. 

 — to prevent breeding ; and then a judicious 

 use of Mrs. Winslow's sfiothing syrup will 

 bring them out all right. If the "bees are 

 kept quiet, the hives and combs will remain 

 dry. 



James Ileddon — My bees are more quiet 

 with the mercury at -52 deg. than at 32. 



Mr. Walker — The temperature in my cel- 

 lar was so warm that one swarm built comb 

 in an upper section which w<as occupied by 

 the ([ueen. Many of the bees left their 

 hives and clustered on the ceiling. 



A. C. Balch — Your bees were trying to 

 swarm. 



The "Question Drawer," a novel and in- 

 teresting feature of tlie ]3resent session, was 

 conducted by T. F. Bingham. The most 

 important <iueries and answers we give as 

 follows : 



Are Italian bees superior to l)lacks ? 



Tliey breed well, but think them no bet- 

 ter. They are not good box honey workers. 



Are artificial (pieens as good as natural 

 ones ? 



They are. 



Are (jueens reared from the larvse as good 

 as from the eggs ? 



Think there is no difference. 



Are small (jueens as good as large ones '.' 



Just as good. 



What is the exjiense of raising queens 

 when bees are rearing an abundance of 

 brood ? 



Merely nominal. 



Can you get as much honey with increase 

 as without i* 



Yes, and you have a swarm ahead. 



Which wi'll gather the most honey rela- 

 tively, large or small hives ? 



Small hives, every time, if not too small. 



Which are Ioii!j;e'st lived, Italian or black 

 queens ? 



The black ((ueen. Italians have to be 

 constantly imported to keej) u]) the stock. 

 If Dadant could get a (pieen good for four 

 years, he could stock the whole country 

 with (jueens. 



We would state that although the above 

 answers are at direct variance with»the 

 generally received opinions of well inform- 

 ed apiarians, they are not so when taken 

 from Mr. Biiighani's standpoint. 



The Convention tlu'u adjourned to meet 

 at nine o'clock, a. m., to-morrow. 



SECOND DAY— MOltNlNG SESSION. 



Kalamazoo, Dec. 17, 1874. 



The convention was called to order at 9)^ 

 o'clock this morning. President Balch iu 

 the chair. The secretary read a paper from 

 W. J. Davis, of Youngsville, Pa., upon 

 "Queen Ptcaring." The best stock to breed 

 from, and the conditions necessary to insure 

 the most uniform and ]iermanent success 

 was considered at length. lie urged bee- 

 keepers to use more care and exercise more 

 judgment in rearing (pieens. The idea that 

 the best queens could not be raised out of 

 the swarming season, was strongly main- 

 tained. 



J. Tomlinson— Can we not get good 

 queens late in the season ? 



C. I. Balch— We can, according to my ex- 

 perience. 



Prof. Coolv— Good cjueens can be raised 

 late in the season, but it requires more 

 skill and experience. 



James Heddon— I have procured a good 

 many queens from W. J. Davis ; have 

 found no others equal to them ; but do not 

 agree with him in regard to the Darwinian 

 theory of reproduction. Our best scientific 

 men agree with Darwin. 



Prof. Cook— Our l)est scientific men be- 

 lieve in evolution, not in Darwin. Evolu- 

 tion is— life comes from life— from the low- 

 est to the highest. Darwin teaches natural 

 selection,— that the fittest and best survive 

 and the poorer and weaker perish. 



Mr. Davis claims that the best time to 

 rear queens is the swarming season ; is 

 natural because in accordance with nature. 

 When bees supersede their queens, we liave 

 a natural process, yet it is often done out of 

 season, usually in the fall. 



A. C. Balch— Bees, in superse'ling a 

 queen, conuneiice from the egg. but when 

 dei)rived of their (lueen use larva- to supply 

 the loss sooner, which accounts for tlie dif- 

 ference in cpiality. 



Mr. Bryan— Prolificness is dependent on 

 the age of the larva' when the cell ir. start- 

 ed. One day old will make good (lueens. 

 seven days very poor. Have never seen 

 two queens in a hive at once. 



Pres. Balch— There is yet room to learn. 



C. I. Balch— Will Mr. Bingham favor us 

 with his method of reai ing queens. 



T. F. Bingham— ]Man, of himself, can't 

 raise (pieens, even with the help of science 



